The Masquerade Games
by DTBSpecialist
Summary: Set years after Mockingjay. The world had been taken over by Panem, Katniss is dead and the President. Chikdren are being experimented on and come back with abilities and young Scarlett is one of them. She knows the world is wrong and President Simone knows it too. Scarlett is forced into the Masquerade Games, but with a motive and a rebellion backing her. Rating may change to M.


I walked along the cold, hard, cracked sidewalk outside my small white home. My mother was inside having one of her fits as the television was about to come on. Everything was controlled now. Everything was new now. Everything was expanded now. There was once a time when Panem was the only nation that had the Hunger Games, now Panem must be the whole world. After Katniss Everdeen and her was shot dead by a rogue group of people who wanted the Hunger Games back, all hell broke loose. Our nation's peacekeeper was gone, only to be replaces by madness and insanity. Then the president died. That's what my mother told me, but she herself was one of the children who witnessed the insanity and it rooted itself deep inside her mind. It manifested there and it still, to this day, muddles her thoughts of the past and sometimes even the present. The thought of being born while that rogue group of people was claiming control of the Nation made me cringe. All the children killed, all the parents killed. Everything at the time, my mother told me, was wrong. For once I knew she had been telling the truth. She was only 16 whereas Katniss Everdeen was somewhere along the lines of 30. She was dead, the president was dead, everything really was wrong. Then the plagues started sweeping through the Districts. Then when the plagues and sickness stopped, the experiments began. Young children ages three to fifteen were being taken and probed. Some came back normal as can be and then some…they came back dangerous, crazy and wild-eyed talking of destruction and death. Those were the ones we feared the most. The people had learned that regardless, every child taken in was returned with some sort of ability. Telekinesis, hypnosis, even elemental things like being able to control fire, water, air, and bend the earth to their will. They were insane and they were out new peacekeepers. They followed President Simone's orders without question. She was a ruthless woman, but everyone had to admit she's done a better job keeping rebellion down than any other President this nation had ever had. When the Games started back again, so did a new form of torture to entertain the masses. The Masquerade Games. They were just like the Hunger Games, but for the children who'd been experimented on. The odds were unfair to put those kids in with the regular human children, though they had never tested it out. There were in all 24 districts. 12 for the Normals and 12 for the Freaks. I was in with the freaks. Being able to control gravity wasn't exactly that normal. Also energy beams. I'm just a deadly ball of pain. My friends were a little more powerful than me though. We all had numbers with one being the lowest in power. Five was the highest and I was a four, so you can only imagine what a five is like. I blew out a breath and seen it fog up in the air. I was in the District for Power. We were trained. There were for some reason, more females here than there were males. We all had uniforms and were ready for the Reaping…except me. I usually skipped class because I never thought I would get picked for the Reaping, but who knows maybe today is just my lucky day to be thrown in the lion's cage. I decided to head back home and see what was going on, on the television. Today was the Quarter Quell. There would be some twist that would get even more kids killed today.

When I got to my house I wiped my feet on the welcome mat and went in. My mother was sitting on the couch with some cold soup in one hand and biting the nails off her other. I knew the soup was cold because it had been in her hand since I'd left about an hour and a half ago. Paige and Danny were sitting next to her. Thank God they were too young to be in the Games, but Danny only had one year left one him. He was 11 and Paige was only six. She had her teddy bear hugged closely to her chest and her long blond hair was in two pigtails. Danny needed a haircut. His hair was already shoulder length and a dark brown. I was in the middle with light brown hair that had small golden natural highlights. Danny and I had taken after out father who had light brown hair and big chunks of dark brown. My mother on the other hair had startlingly blonde hair that was oddly close to white. Paige's hair was the same way and it made me fear she would turn out to be like our mother. Then the door opened and dad came in. Paige ran to him and jumped in his arms. She didn't speak, she was a mute. Danny and I had always had to take care of her since mom had went off her rocker a long time ago. Dad swung Paige up into his arms and stroked her hair. He looked at me and smiled. "Just get home?" He asked, turning on the television. I nodded.  
"I need to take a walk." I said.  
"I understand." He set Paige down and went over to mom. He kneeled down in front of her and whispered something that made her drop her bowl. Soup got all over dad's good work clothes, but he kept a smile on his face. Mom started yelling something as Danny gasped and Paige took a step back. Being the oldest I should have taken them to their room and told them, 'Don't worry, it'll all be okay', but I wasn't the type to lie to my younger siblings. I wasn't going to fill them with dreams and hopes of everything being okay because nothing was ever going to be okay again. We had a mute sister, a psycho mom, a push over dad, and to top it all of a depressed sister with no hope in the world. Not a healthy family, but a working one and that's all that mattered in this new world. Every other year we have the Masquerade Game and every other year we have to worry about what if I'm not here to help make some more money or go to school and learn how to defend my family if someone breaks in. It was a lot to handle, but seeing the families with smiles on their faces acting like there's no more problems in the world made me lose more and more hope every day. The sad thing is that these people really think this world is fine and it's not. It's one bud problem that's snowballing into an even bigger snowball that's going to plow into someone and kill them. I watch my mother start crying and shouting and I see blood coming from her skin, but it goes right back inside her wound. Regeneration, that's her ability. Paige's is telepathy and Danny's is force fields. My dad grabs her by the shoulders and shakes her, but then they are both silenced by the noise coming from the TV.

"Hello my fellow advocates and followers. I am here to greet you by telling you all Happy Masquerade Games." Said Simone. She had a pinched face and snobby look to her."Today after the announcement you will all go to the Reaping in your Square." She smiled. "Now without further-a-do, I will now announce the Quarter Quell twist." She took out a slip of paper from her pocket. "For the 20th Quarter Quell, every other district will be competing in the Games including the Original Districts." If I had water in my mouth I would have spit it out. Just how much of a chance does she think they will have? To place the Normals with the Freaks is a bloodbath waiting to happen…oh wait that's what they want to happen! I sigh and walk out. I slam the door on my way out. Am I the only one who can see the wrong in this?

I wait on my family at the Reaping. By the time they got there the lady who had come to Our District Two was getting ready to pick names. I sighed upon seeing my mother. I could feel everyone in the Square holding their breath. She reached her hand in the bucket and drew out a name. "Lucas James!" She said, excitedly. I looked over and seen Lucas walking up on stage. He went to school with me. He was beautiful, but not cocky. He was what most girls thought of as the perfect boyfriend. He was my cup of tea, but at the same time not. I didn't know him very well. He had a lean build and shoulder length, shaggy blond hair. He smiled just a little as he walked up the steps. The lady who someone told me was Luna helped him up the steps even though he didn't need it. Lucas was one of the most popular boys at the school and he was a Five. He had a good chance at winning, but he didn't seem like the type to be able to hurt someone. He stood on the stage and Luna put her hand back in the bowl. She pulled out a slip of paper. "Scarlett London!" I felt my head go blurry. What? Me? No, she had to have meant someone else. I heard my mother let out a shrill scream as peacekeepers brought me up to the stage. I almost tripped on the way up, but I caught myself. Luna was saying something, but my mind was too fuzzy to hear anything. Only when Lucas stuck out his hand did I remember we had to shake hands. I shook his hand and it dawned on me. I'm going to die in a few days.


End file.
